Letters to High-Risk Groups
All letters to high-risk patients have been sent out centrally by NHS England; they are not sent by us.
Practices have been instructed to await guidance from NHS England before identifying further patients.
Easter Bank Holiday
NHS have instructed all GP practices to remain open on Good Friday and Easter Monday to alleviate pressure on NHS 111. Please be advised that there will only be a skeleton staff, and lockdown arrangements will be maintained.
Scam Alert
We ask patients to be aware of a telephone scam whereby somebody claiming to be from Public Health England asks if you have received their letter from the government, and then asks if you have support from family and friend etc. These callers are trying to obtain personal details over the phone, so please exercise caution if you receive an unexpected call like this.
Front Door Locked
We have now locked the front door due the increased measures against the Covid-19 outbreak.
Appointments will be be telephone where possible. Patients with existing appointments will be notified in due course.
Patients will need to telephone first if they feel they need to be seen, and GPs will triage and invite patients they decide need a face-to-face appointment.
You can order your prescriptions online using SystmOnline, by phone (until 31st March), or by posting a note through the door. Prescriptions will be sent to a pharmacy of your choosing - please nominate a pharmacy whichever method you request by. Existing printed tokens will need to be sent to a pharmacy, so please nominate which pharmacy they should be sent to.
Practice Statement on Changes to Appointment System
Click here to read our practice statement on the changes to the appointment system in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
Online Booking Disabled
As part of their coronavirus preparation guidance, Public Health England have recommended that all practices temporarily disable online booking of appointments so they can be triaged. We apologise for any inconvenience.
Coronavirus Guidance
Please refer to our coronavirus guidance page for regular updates from Public Health England.
Three Working Days for Prescriptions
As of 1st March we are now allowing three working days from request for prescriptions to be ready.
For example, if you put in a request on a Monday, you should not expect it any sooner than 17:00 on the Thursday.
17/02/2020 Internet Update
Our internet connection has been restored.
10/02/2020 Telephone Line Problems
We are currently experiencing further problems with our telephone lines and ae are working to have this fixed as soon as possible. Please check back for updates.
Electronic Prescription Service News
We are upgrading to the next phase of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) which will mean that almost all our prescriptions will be processed electronically from 20th January.
Electronic prescriptions help save the NHS money.
You will receive your prescriptions in the same way as you do now.
Read more about EPS on the NHS website.
New GP: Dr. Rustgi
Dr. Rustgi has now joined the practice and will take on Dr. Hossain's list. We're sure you will join us in making her feel welcome.
Flu Jabs
We are now booking flu jab appointments. Call to book on 01277 218393 or come to reception.
Cancelling Appointments by Text
If you want to cancel an appointment by text, simply reply to your text reminder with 'cancel', and the system will automatically cancel it.
Please note: if you reply with anything other than 'cancel' the system will not recognise it and it won't work.
Time to Learn
Every first Tuesday of the month* all practices in the area close at 13:00 for staff training.
Please see the Time to Learn page for the dates for this year.
**NEW** GP Extended Access HUB now open.
Please see our opening times page for more information.
New General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)
Please see privacy notice
Ear Irrigation No Longer Available
Please be advised that ear irrigation is not a service provided by the NHS, and it is unfortunately no longer feasible to offer it at this practice.
Should you require this service, you would need to arrange it privately.
10 Insider Tips
We bet you didn't know these facts about your GP! 10 insider tips
Missed Appointments
140 MISSED APPOINTMENTS PER MONTH!
Appointment waiting times are currently 20 working days to see a doctor for routine appointments (that’s 4 weeks!), possibly longer so see the GP of your choice. Many patients complain about having to wait this long to see a doctor, and justifiably so, but these delays can be dramatically reduced if patients just cancel any appointments they later find they do not need so they can be freed up for other patients.
On average there are 140 missed opportunities a month for other patients to see a doctor! That’s around 32 per week, and 4 per day! If we don’t address this, it will be 2,160 missed appointments a year - every year!
You can now cancel your appointment by replying CANCEL to your text message reminder - not a full sentence please, as the system will not recognise it. To sign up for SMS reminders please speak to a member of our reception team. Alternatively, you can still call to cancel your appointment please call 01277 218393 and choose option 6.
Minor Injuries Unit
The Minor Injuries Unit at Orsett Hospital is open Monday - Sunday from 10:00 – 20:00.
Patients are encouraged to use this service instead of A&E for minor injuries.
Click here to read more about this service.
Bank Holiday Closures
We will be closed on the following Bank Holidays:
Friday 10th April 2020 OPEN
Monday 13th April 2020 OPEN
Friday 8th May 2020
Monday 25th May 2020
Monday 31st August 2020
Friday 25th December 2020
Saturday 26th December 2020
Monday 28th December 2020
Friday 1st January 2021
Normal opening hours will resume at 8.00 am on the following working day after bank holiday closure.
Time to Learn Training afternoons
The surgery will be closed from 13:00 on the following Tuesday afternoons for practice training:
Tuesday 4th February 2020
Tuesday 3rd March 2020
Tuesday 7th April 2020
Tuesday 5th May 2020
Tuesday 2nd June 2020
Tuesday 7th July 2020
[AUGUST - NO TIME TO LEARN CLOSURE]
Tuesday 1st September 2020
Tuesday 6th October 2020
Tuesday 3rd November 2020
Tuesday 1st December 2020
Normal opening hours will resume at 08:00 the following day.
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If you need urgent medical advice when the surgery is closed please contact the South Essex NHS 111 service directly by dialling 111. The call is free of charge.
Alternatively you may still contact the surgeries (New Surgery on 01277 218393. Brambles Surgery on 01277 215738) and your call will be automatically re-routed to the NHS 111 service directly, however the call will be charged.
The South Essex NHS 111 service provides urgent medical care when the practice is closed between 18:30 and 08:00 weekdays as well as weekends. Please note that although the surgery is open on Saturday mornings, this is via an extended hours enhanced service contract with the National Commissioning Board and the practice is contracted to provide pre-bookable appointments only. All requests for urgent medical attention that cannot wait for the surgery to open must be directed to the NHS 111 service as stated above, or accessed by calling the practice on 01277 218393.
Out-of-hours services are generally busy so please think carefully before asking to see a doctor and only do so if you genuinely cannot wait until the surgery re-opens.
In a genuine emergency you should call 999. Chest pains and / or shortness of breath constitute an emergency.